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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Elfen Lied: Episode 3

We start off with Kouta pulling off Nyuu's shorts and Yuka staring on. Yuka puts the key on a table and tries to walk away, clearly misunderstanding the situation, and not being happy about it one damned bit. When Kouta tries to stop her from leaving, Yuka asks if he remembers going to a festival when they were little. He tells her that it doesn't really matter, and she slaps him. They say each others name a few times too many times (TETSUO!! KANEDA!!), then she storms out. As soon as she slams the door, Kouta shivers.

Mr. Glasses stands over Nana, still chained and bloody, as she tries to reach out for a hug. He unchains her then asks for a favor. Title card:

At her own home, Yuka opens a box of little cut-outs of animals and things. She flashbacks to the festival mentioned earlier, as a li'l Yuka attempts to cut a little chick out of a sheet of foam or construction paper. Li'l Kouta makes fun of her, then shows her up by cutting a perfect cat out of another sheet. They make a promise that the next time they meet, she'll have mastered cutting shit out of other shit, and when she does, Kouta will do what ever she says. Back in present time, Yuka scoops up a bunch of cut-outs, then starts to cry, scrunching them up. Aw... Or, oh, she's insane.

Nana says she'll do anything Mr. Glasses says, without even asking if he can cut animals out of paper. Incidentally, Mr. Glasses real name is, Director Kurama. But that's not important. His assistant, back in a lab setting and behind glass, shares a moment with unnamed lab guy about how Nana has basically been tortured in the name of science and stuff, and to keep sane she's used Mr. Glasses as a support structure. He's her daddy-figure. We also learn that the inviso-hands Lucy and Nana use are called, "Vectors." AND that the be-horned ones are called, "Diclonius." It's Exposition City. Mr. Glasses asks Nana to kill for him, to which Nana replies, "Nana... can't kill a human." But that's just fine and dandy, because Papa wants you to kill another Diclonius. Since Diclonius can sense each other, only Nana can stop her. Nana wants to do right by Mr. Glasses so much, it kind of hurts to watch. All the blood doesn't help.

Meanwhile, Kouta has a cold from running around in the rain and getting the shit kicked out of him and all. Nyuu watches on in horror. When Kouta asks for water, she brings him slippers. Then a bunch of other assorted crap. The studio audience moans a somber 'awwww...' Outside, Yuka drops off a bag of her clothes for Nyuu to wear, but walks away without knocking. Divining her presence somehow, Nyuu runs out to stop her and drags her inside to the ailing Kouta. Kouta brings up the festival and mentions that his father and sister both died shortly after and doesn't really remember the events leading up to it. He also blurts out something about his father dying in a car accident, which Yuka again questions, but not loud enough for anyone to hear. Yuka sort of feels better now, knowing that Kouta's trauma led to his not remembering the great festival where they cut up paper.

Back at Diclonius Central, a bandaged Bando yells at Mr. Glasses. Apparently, Bando has been offered a surgery to replace his missing arm and eyes, at the expense of his testicles, without any explanation. I probably wouldn't take that well, either. Mr. Glasses retorts that if Bando doesn't have his balls removed, humanity is doomed. I tend to agree, plot aside. Bando, understandably, has questions. Mr. Glasses starts to talk up, and again, we're transported to Exposition City. As he starts to inform Bando, someone turns on a light switch, illuminating several X-rays of a Diclonius... for the man with no eyes. I'd say they were for the audience's benefit, but all they show is that there are horns on the top of its head, and we knew that already. So... what the fuck? We learn that these vectors are controlled by thought and can be used for just about anything the situation requires. More importantly, we learn that they weren't initially weapons, but a way for Diclonius to spread their genes for reproduction. And Lucy is especially dangerous, because while most Diclonius will die shortly after birth, Lucy has the 'ability to reproduce without any problems ... and the possibility exists that she can breed with a normal human.' So, they have to take his balls. It's still a little unclear why exactly. If they steal genes and impregnate themselves, Bando and his whole team should've had their balls removed before their last mission. So, is there a threat that Lucy impregnated Bando? That seems unlikely. And why can't they make him sterile? Make him stand in front of a microwave for a few hours. No surgery required.

Yuka says it'd look odd for Nyuu and Kouta, a young man and woman, to live together and not be married. The neighbors would go ape-shit. So, Yuka is going to move in, thus fixing the problem somehow. Kouta goes, "Whaaaa?!" and again, the studio audience goes crazy.

At Diclonius Central, Nana gets ready to take her helicopter ride to go find Lucy. She's pretty happy about it. She repeats how much she wants to make Mr. Glasses proud, then asks for a favor. Quick cut to the helicopter taking off. Mr. Glasses and assistant talk about how it's all well and good that Nana is out looking for Lucy, but if she tries to take her down herself, Nana will probably get herself killed. Mr. Glasses doesn't seem all that concerned. It kind of looks like he's thinking about what to have for lunch.

Back home, Nyuu motions to Yuka that she'd like to help Kouta wash the floors. As Yuka goes off to get another cloth, Nyuu tries to take advantage of Kouta. She places his hand on her breast and gets him to squeeze it a bit. Yuka enters, slaps Kouta, then goes to the store. I assume the whole scene had something to do with Diclonius wanting to breed and stuff, but who knows. As Yuka walks away from the house, homeless girl and her puppy walk towards it, holding the umbrella she found in the last episode. She explains to Kouta that she's returning it after finding it on the beach. This causes Kouta to go a little crazy again, asking her if she saw any of that crazy shit that happened. So, he invites her in.

As Kouta confirms that there was indeed a soldier hitting him over the head last night, Nyuu finds a music box that Yuka left out, and promptly slips on the floor, hitting her head. The music box plays the show's theme song, as Lucy stands up and almost kills Kouta with her vectors. She's stopped by a vision of li'l Kouta screaming for her to stop. She pulls her vectors away, then wanders off. People just up and leave scenes a lot in this show. "It was fun almost killing you-BYE!" Yuka asks Kouta if he remembers the music box, and he sort of does, but not really. Outside, Lucy almost kills the puppy, who's tied up to a drainage pipe. All she really does is break its leash. As homeless girl, Mayu, is leaving, Kouta asks if he could get her number incase he has more questions. He hasn't picked up that the girl, who must smell, isn't wearing pants, and I'm sure is fairly dirty, is homeless. She stutters a bit, then runs out to find her dog missing. It's a little sad for a second, but Wanta, the puppy, comes barking up the walkway almost right away. It's almost suspense. Prespense?

Kouta talks about how Nyuu is really late, as if they set a time to meet up after leaving for no reason. Yuka rambles on about how she has trouble finishing sentences. As Kouta gets up to leave, Yuka asks if Kouta wants to try touching her breasts. There are some weird, complicated feelings going on in this show. Kouta seems to agree. He just stands there until we cut to the next scene.

Semi-flashback to Nana standing outside the helicopter with Mr. Glasses. The favor she asked for was Mr. Glasses 'ribbon,' or 'tie' to the rest of us. In present time, she ties it around her head to cover her horns. The horns might have looked less weird. She walks down some steps to where Lucy is sitting, waiting. Nana stands just two steps away and announces that she's there, 'to take [Lucy] home.' Dun, dun dunnnn....